EPSOM SCHOOL BOARD
EPSOM CENTRAL SCHOOL
EPSOM, NEW HAMPSHIRE
WEDNESDAY MAY 10,2006
MINUTES OF MEETING
Present:
Board Members: Barbara
Doughty (Chair), Bill Yeaton, Gordon Ellis,
Tracey Miner, David Goulet
Tom Haley-
Superintendent of Schools
David Dziura Assistant Superintendent of Schools
Patrick Connors ECS Principal
Richard Dougherty ECS Vice-Principal
Citizens/Staff: Steve Patterson, Janet Allen, Theresa
Tirone, Maranda Phillips,
Hannah Phillips, Diane Lewis, Paul
Gagnon, Beth Sirrine, Joan Pozner,
Lisa Bauer, Chelsea Jarest, Molly
Todd, Tony Cacciola, Aleah Cacciola,
Ryan Cacciola, Lisa Strano, John
Klose, Tony Soltani, Mike Hazlett, Megan Todd,
Michelle Pinsonneault, Dawn
Marshall, Tom Rouillard
Agenda Item 1. Call to Order
by Barbara Doughty at 6:10 PM
Agenda Item 2. Pledge
of Allegiance lead by Gordon Ellis
Agenda Item 3. Minutes of
Previous Meetings- April 6, 2006; May 2,
2006
April 6, 2006: second
paragraph of agenda item 5B on page 2 - removal of word “said”.
On page 4 Debbie Grenier’s name was misspelled, and Beth
Sirrine’s and Steve Patterson’s
names to be added to Citizens/Staff in attendance list.
The
motion to approve the minutes for April 6, 2006 as revised was made by Gordon Ellis. Bill Yeaton seconded the motion.
THE MOTION CARRIED ON A VOTE OF 5-0
Barbara Doughty aye
Gordon Ellis aye
Bill Yeaton aye
Tracey Miner aye
David Goulet aye
A
motion to approve the minutes for May 2, 2006 was made by Bill Yeaton and seconded by Tracey Miner.
THE MOTION CARRIED ON A VOTE 4-0
Barbara Doughty aye
Gordon Ellis abstained
Bill Yeaton aye
Tracey Miner aye
David Goulet aye
4. Immediate Business
A. Attorney
Advice on Legal Matter
At 6:10 PM, Barbara Doughty made a
motion to enter Non-Public Session under RSA 91-A:2I(c) and RSA 91-A:3II(e) to hear attorney
advice on a legal
matter. Gordon Ellis seconded the motion.
Barbara
Doughty aye
Gordon Ellis aye
Bill Yeaton aye
Tracey Miner aye
David Goulet aye
In attendance in non-public session were Bill
Yeaton, Gordon Ellis, Barbara
Doughty, Tracey Miner, David Goulet, Tom Haley, Dave Dziura and Patrick Connors.
At 6:20 PM Gordon Ellis made a motion to end the
Non-Public Session. Barbara Doughty seconded the motion.
Barbara Doughty aye
Gordon
Ellis aye
Bill Yeaton aye
Tracey Miner aye
David Goulet aye
School
Board chair, Barbara Doughty announced that no action was taken by the Board during
the non-public session.
B. Agenda
Review
Barbara
Doughty suggested that the agenda 5B be moved to after 4C, and item 6A be moved to follow 5B to
better accommodate those in attendance.
C. Citizen’s/Staff Comments
Beth Sirrine thanked Tom Haley for answering
questions she had asked at the last School Board meeting.
5B. EYAA and Grounds/Facility Issues
The School Board reviewed several athletic
field issues with Tony Cacciola from the
EYAA including: the pump/well issue and
the fence repair/erection issue. Gordon Ellis
announced that a decision had been made not to dig a well but to remove and
repair the pump presently located in the pond by the field. Mr. Cacciola
indicated that the EYAA was prepared to pay electrical costs for the pump
operation for watering the fields.
Gordon informed the Board that he was
currently working with the EYAA to attempt
to schedule use of the full size baseball diamond by the Suncook Little League for their
practice sessions.
The Board reviewed, for the second time, a
draft policy for advertising on school athletic fields.
Gordon Ellis made a motion to adopt the
advertising policy as presented. Tracey Miner seconded the motion.
THE MOTION CARRIED ON A VOTE 5-0
Gordon
Ellis aye
Bill
Yeaton aye
Barbara
Doughty aye
Tracey
Miner aye
David
Goulet aye
David Goulet suggested that the Board bring back Bill Welch from the AAU for next month’s
meeting to discuss questions about regarding the gym use for basketball sessions. Barbara agreed to contact Mr. Welch.
6A. 6th Grade Student Proposal
Steve Patterson explained that for the 2006/2007
school year there will be 48 children in the 6th
grade, 29 boys and 19 girls. The 6th
grade team is suggesting that
of the 3 classrooms for that grade, that 1 classroom be all boys. Mr. Connors explained
that scheduling for this class will involve seeking parent approval for the boys selected
to be included. Mr. Connors and Mr.
Patterson answered numerous
questions from School Board members regarding this proposal, and indicated
that the Board will be kept informed about this new program.
4D.
Administrator’s Report
Patrick
Connors discussed the Administrator’s Monthly Report included in the Board packets. Some of
the highlights are as follows:
The Graduating Class of 2005 at Pembroke
Academy invited the School Board to their
graduating commencements on Saturday June 17, 2006 at 10:00 A.M. at PA.
Mr. Connors informed the Board that an anonymous
donation of $150 to be applied
as needed had been received by the school.
Barbara Doughty made a motion to accept this
donation. Tracey Miner seconded the motion.
THE MOTION CARRIED ON A VOTE 4-0
Gordon Ellis abstain
Bill Yeaton aye
Barbara
Doughty aye
Tracey Miner aye
David Goulet aye
Mr. Connors announced that the Science fair
was a great showing and that the month’s
early release time was used by teachers to go over NECAP Scores.
Upcoming Events 5/17 Drama Performance at
9:00 AM, 5/18 Drama Performance at 7:00 PM., 5/25
Memorial Day Concert for grades 1-8 at 1:15 PM, and Memorial Day Concert performed by
students in grade 4, 5 and the chorus
at 6:00 PM.
At this point, since State Representatives Tony
Soltani and John Klose had arrived at the meeting, Gordon Ellis suggested that the
Board next consider agenda item 5C to accommodate their schedules.
5C. School Name
Representatives
Tony Soltani and John Klose spoke with
the Board about unfunded state and federal mandates. Following this discussion, Gordon requested
that his proposal to rename the school the “Unfunded Mandate School” be added to
the Board’s July agenda for continued discussion.
4E. Nomination/Election of Staff
Mr. Haley nominated Sarah Bachelder for a 6th
Grade Teacher position for 2006/07.
Gordon Ellis made a motion to elect Sarah
Bachelder to a sixth grade teacher
position for 2006/07. Bill Yeaton
seconded the motion.
THE MOTION CARRIED A VOTE OF 4-0
Gordon
Ellis aye
Bill Yeaton aye
Barbara
Doughty recused
Tracey Miner aye
David Goulet aye
4F. Policy Review/ Development
Dave Dziura reviewed a draft policy for
Influenza Epidemic/Pandemic Prevention and
Response Plan and a packet received from The Department of Health and Human Services
and Department of Education providing background information on this topic. The
Board decided that they should review the draft policy and invite the
school nurse, Joan Pozner, and town health official Cecile Curran to the next board meeting and
continue discussion at that time.
5. Old/Unfinished Business
A. Staff
Requests - Ms Doughty
The Board discussed at length, requests from
two staff members for a waiver of tuition
costs for their children who the Board had approved non-resident enrollment of for the 2006/07 school year.
Barbara Doughty made a motion to waive the
$500 per child tuition for 2006/2007
for Mr. Patterson’s child and Miss Grenier’s two children as a benefit. Bill Yeaton seconded the motion.
MOTION CARRIED A VOTE OF 3-2
Gordon Ellis nay
Bill Yeaton aye
Barbara Doughty aye
Tracey Miner nay
David Goulet aye
D. 2006/07 Calendar
Dave Dziura explained a request to move the March 16
SAU #53 teacher workshop day on the 2006/07 school
calendar to Tuesday, March 13 in order to accommodate those districts that
hold voting in the schools.
Barbara Doughty made a motion to move Teacher’s
Workshop Day on March
16, 2007 to March 13, 2007. Dave Goulet
seconded the motion.
MOTION CARRIED A VOTE 5-0
Gordon
Ellis aye
Bill Yeaton aye
Barbara
Doughty aye
Tracey
Miner aye
David
Goulet aye
E. 2005/2006
Budget Update
Dave Dziura distributed updated year-end projections
for the 2005/06 budget.
Barbara Doughty made a motion to purchase
panic doors at a cost of $6,000. Tracey Miner seconded the motion.
MOTION CARRIED A VOTE 4-0
Gordon
Ellis abstain
Bill Yeaton aye
Barbara
Doughty aye
Tracey
Miner aye
David
Goulet aye
Gordon
Ellis made a motion to purchase a sweeper at a cost of $259 for the school tractor.
Bill Yeaton seconded the motion.
MOTION CARRIED A VOTE 5-0
Gordon Ellis aye
Bill Yeaton aye
Barbara
Doughty aye
Tracey Miner aye
David Goulet aye
Patrick Connors and Paul Gagnon explained a
proposal to purchase 18 laptops, one
scanner and one computer cart to supplement a technology grant already obtained by
the school.
Gordon Ellis made a motion to buy the 18
computers, one scanner, and one
cart at a cost not to exceed $ 18,000. Motion
was seconded by Tracey Miner.
MOTION CARRIED TO A VOTE 5-0
Gordon
Ellis aye
Bill
Yeaton aye
Barbara
Doughty aye
Tracey
Miner aye
David
Goulet aye
David Goulet made a motion to purchase maintenance
supplies, not to exceed $4,500. Bill Yeaton seconded the motion.
MOTION CARRIED TO A VOTE 4-0
Gordon
Ellis abstain
Bill
Yeaton aye
Barbara
Doughty aye
Tracey
Miner aye
David Goulet aye
Patrick Connors asked permission to pay
2006/07 health and dental costs for two Title
I personnel out of the Fund 1 budget rather than the Fund 2 grant budget due to a loss of $16,000 for the
Title 1 federal grant for next year.
David Goulet made a motion to approve approximately
$ 13,000 for Title 1 personnel insurance costs for
2006/07 to be paid under the Fund 1 budget.
Tracey
Miner seconded the motion.
MOTION CARRIED TO A VOTE 3-1
Gordon
Ellis nay
Bill Yeaton abstain
Barbara
Doughty aye
Tracey
Miner aye
David
Goulet aye
F. 2006/2007
Heating Oil Bids
Bids came in from Rymes and Fuller.
Tracey Miner made a motion to accept the
heating oil bid contract price of $2.395 per gallon from Fuller Oil
Co. David Goulet seconded the motion.
MOTION CARRIED TO A VOTE 4-1
Gordon Ellis aye
Bill Yeaton nay
Barbara Doughty aye
Tracey
Miner aye
David
Goulet aye
At 9 PM the board asked for a 10 min. break. The
meeting resumed at 9:10 PM.
6. New Business
B. March, 2007, Election Preparation
Barbara Doughty recalled that Brian Nase had
previously suggested that town voting
be done at the school in March, 2007. She indicated that idea could prove helpful in
obtaining community support for the school’s district meeting proposals. She suggested that there were likely many
other strategies that might also
be helpful, and she proposed forming a committee to develop a plan for securing
voter approval for the 2007/08 school budget and collective bargaining agreement.
Tracey Miner made a motion for a committee to
be formed. David Goulet seconded the motion.
MOTION CARRIED A VOTE OF 5 - 0
Gordon
Ellis aye
Bill Yeaton aye
Barbara
Doughty aye
Tracey
Miner aye
David
Goulet aye
7. Other
Business
A. NHSBA Issues
Tracey Miner and Dave
Goulet reviewed issues discussed at a recent NHSBA workshop.
Ms. Miner will write periodic newspaper articles on Board topics.
School Board goals will be discussed at the
Board’s June meeting.
B. Citizens/staff Comments
Mr. Patterson thanked the board for the added benefit
for his family.
Lisa Bauer made a
statement in response to comments by parents at the previous
Board meeting regarding teaching assignments for the 2006/07 school year. Ms. Bauer commented that she felt that Steve
Patterson would also have done
a fine job in eighth grade, just as Rich Dougherty would have done a fine job in sixth
grade. She also asked people to remember
that it takes many individuals
to educate a child, and that a school is made up of many people, not just
one.
8. Adjournment
Hearing no call for further business
to be conduced by the Board, Barbara Doughty adjourned
the meeting at 9:42 P.M.
Next Board Meeting Tuesday June 7, at 7:00 P.M. following
School Board reception for Epsom
graduating twelfth graders.